About

The ICA Land Use Committee (LUC) oversees the neighborhood's relationship with all of the City's land use and urban planning functions. The LUC reviews, and frequently comments on: transportation projects, code improvements, zoning issues, good neighbor agreements, liquor licenses, code compliance, and, of course, historic resource reviews. There are a lot of moving parts in our urban neighborhood, and your Land Use Committee tries to stay on top of all of them.

Good Neighbor Agreements

Help With Land Use Review

You may choose to meet with the ICA before you apply to the City for a land use case, OR you may come to the ICA Land Use Committee after your application with the City is complete, and the City has given the neighborhood official notice regarding your project. We recommend meeting with the ICA's Land Use Committee to get preliminary advice on your project. Often, this early pre-application process can save you both time and money. Try to bring as much specific information as you are able. Your sketches and photos would be useful. Fully rendered architectural drawings are not required. Actual application forms are not required.

Remember as you come to the Committee meeting, the neighborhood's role is strictly advisory. The City of Portland planners in the Bureau of Development Services make the decisions on Historic Resource Review. In Irvington, those decisions are based on Section 33.846.060.G of City Code. During pre-application meetings, ICA committees can potentially spot pitfalls in proposals for building alterations or infill construction based on experience with prior cases and understanding of the architectural history and character of the Historic District. We may make informal suggestions and respond to your questions, but in the end it is the City that has the final say..

In situations where the ICA Committees feel your plans are appropriate and the City planner disagrees, the ICA has limited ability to sway the City's decision in your favor by submitting historic research and historic resource survey information in support of your proposal, and will do so as volunteer resources are available. If the City turns down your application, and you decide to appeal the City's ruling, the ICA may elect to support your appeal (or even make the appeal for you), but that involves presentations to the Portland Historic Landmarks Commission, which can be a lengthy process. To date, since the Historic District designation in 2010, there have been only a handful of appeals by property owners who have applied for Historic Resource Review.

If the ICA feels your alteration proposal is inappropriate for the District under the terms of applicable City Code in Section 33.846.060.G, it will say so in any pre-application review meeting, and, if the application is not revised before filing with the City, the neighborhood will reiterate the opinion in formal comments delivered to the BDS Planner handling the case. If the City approves the design despite the ICA's recommendation to the contrary, the ICA has standing to appeal the decision to the Historic Landmarks Commission. In fact, the ICA has rarely appealed the decision of the Bureau of Development Services. Again only a handful of these appeals have been filed, compared to the hundreds of historic resource reviews since the Historic District was created in November, 2010.